Support: The Jimmy Fund's Scooper Bowl

I first learned about the Jimmy Fund's Scooper Bowl three years ago. I discovered the event via Twitter and each year since I sat in my cubicle in Waltham full of tremendous envy of all the people who worked downtown and could attend the Scooper Bowl during or after work. Those who read the blog regularly know I am addicted to ice cream and frozen yogurt. It's my primary food group. It seemed like torture for an event like this to be happening and for me not to be able to attend.

Enter my new job! Thanks to my new office location, today I was finally able to attend my first Scooper Bowl! I met one of my best friends (who works just a few blocks away) at 12:00pm outside my building and we walked to City Hall plaza.

The event opened at 12:00pm and when we arrived at 12:15pm there was already a line to get in! As we stood in line I looked up ahead at the whimsical, ice cream gate marking the entrance. This is my kind of event!

Admission to the Scooper Bowl is $8 for an adult and buys you all-you-can-eat access to the vendors. As soon as you set foot through that frosty gate, you are handed a plastic spoon. This is your key to ice cream nirvana. Drop the spoon, or throw it away by mistake and you're done.

We had a plan of attack. We would visit each vendor (8 total) and each try a different flavor (each vendor offered 4 selections). We would taste each other's choices at each booth, allowing us to try 16 flavors total. Logical, no?

The first booth we visited was Brigham's, which is my family's favorite. Of the available choices, I opted for the Mocha Chip and she for the BoSox Brownie. The Mocha Chip was the perfect balance of coffee and chocolate. The BoSox Brownie had big brownie bites and the base flavor was super creamy. We took just two bites of each flavor, not wanting to get full straight out of the gate!

The next stop was SoCo Creamery. I selected the Berkshire Berry and she the Dirty Chocolate. The Berkshire Berry tasted a bit like Black Raspberry and I felt it really could have used a coat of chocolate sprinkles. The Dirty Chocolate (which is a gross name) was good, but packed an intense chocolate flavor that was a bit too much to eat an entire bowl.

The third booth belonged to Ciao Bella Gelato, which I have purchased before in the supermarket. I picked up the bright orange, Mango gelato and she raced toward the Key Lime Graham flavor. The Mango flavor was incredible! It tasted like pureed, fresh Mango. I licked the bowl clean and probably could have devoured several more! My partner in crime adored the Key Lime Graham and I did too! It had that refreshing, tart lime flavor and was nicely balanced by the sweet graham cracker. A home run for Ciao Bella!

Booth number four belonged to Baskin Robbins, which hands down had the biggest line! I reached for the Lucky Mint and she for a flavor called the S'more the Merrier. The Lucky Mint had a chocolate base and bright green mint pieces, like an Andes mint. It was so good! I would seek out a Baskin Robbins location just to eat this again. The S'more the Merrier was underwhelming and we tossed it after one bite each.

We also couldn't help but notice Baskin Robbins' flavor called Firehouse #31 which has fireball candy in it and is bright, fire engine red!

Half way through the vendors, we decided to take a stroll around the event grounds. We noticed the Jimmy Fund booth selling their rainbow of Scooper Bowl t-shirts:

We saw a sign counting how much money had been raised by the event so far:

And a sign thanking all the public schools who had raised money to support the event.

In fact, all afternoon as we moved from booth to booth, we were behind a group of young, school boys who were accompanied by an adult, male chaperone. I finally said, "We seem to be following your boys. Are you on a school field trip?" He answered, "Yes, the school raised such a great amount of money, the Jimmy Fund gave us free tickets to bring them today." My heart melted. And not because it was 90 degrees.

After a cup of water each, we headed back into the masses to test out booth number five: Ben & Jerry's. I saw they were peddling the new Jimmy Fallon inspired flavor, Late Night Snack and elbowed my way to a cup of that. We also tried a flavor called Bonnaroo Buzz. One of the school boys turned to another and said, "What's a Bon-a-doo?" HA! The Late Night Snack flavor, which features chocolate covered potato chips, was actually quite delicious. I wouldn't buy a pint of it, but it was a nice, new taste. The Bonnaroo Buzz was awesome! It has a coffee base and was full of flavor. Yum-o!

Next up was Breyer's, another supermarket staple. I went for the Dulce de Leche and she for the Mint Chocolate Chip. I took one bite of the Dulce de Leche and found it way too sweet (sorry, Miami friends!). I can't even remember the Mint Chocolate Chip, so it must have been underwhelming.

Booth number seven was home to Friendly's! As we stood in line I couldn't help but think how nice it would be to take a Fribble back to the office. She dove right for the Hunka Chunka PB Fudge and I snatched the Forbidden Chocolate. Both choices were fantastic and tasted like true, creamy, ice cream should! I forgot how much I love Friendly's. Too bad their restaurants are absolutely grotesque!

The last booth at the Scooper Bowl belonged to Edy's, another supermarket all star. She chose the brightly colored orange sherbet and I went for the Rocky Road (the first time we had seen that flavor all day). Sherbet is definitely not for me, but the Rocky Road was awesome. Genuine, junk food.

Before leaving we strolled over to the performance stage where a group of elementary school age girls were singing and dancing (with wireless mics!) to Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA." They also sang "Seize the Day" from Newsies, a number from Disney's Aladdin and few other well known show tunes. So adorable!

By the time we were ready to leave at 12:50pm, the place was packed!

People made strong attempts to keep track of their groups, including this day care we spotted, who had each kid in a red jersey and red visor! So cute.

Thank you to the Jimmy Fund for the incredible, critical work you do every single day to help children and their families. I thank you for your commitment to a necessary cause and for throwing the most fun and delicious event I have ever attended!

The Scooper Bowl is open for it's final day tomorrow, Thursday, June 9th, from 12:00pm - 8:00pm. Go out and show your support and remember - don't drop that spoon!

 

Molly Galler

Welcome to Pop.Bop.Shop. My name is Molly. I’m a foodie, fashionista, pop culture addict and serious travel junkie. I’m a lifelong Bostonian obsessed with frozen confections, outdoor patios, Mindy Kaling, reality television, awards shows, tropical vacations, snail mail and my birthday.

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